


The Dance of Death

by Cupcakemolotov



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dancing, F/M, Tango With A Monster, suggested character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 05:13:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: An afternoon spent dancing in the streets is interrupted by an old nightmare.





	The Dance of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Written for romanoffsbite! Thank you so much for all the beautiful, beautiful things you give this fandom. I didn't manage the Carenzo shenanigans, so next time!

_Or do you hope, when sing the violins,_  
_And the pale candle-flame lights up our sins,_  
 _To drive some mocking nightmare far apart,_  
 _And cool the flame hell lighted in your heart?_ \- Charles Baudelaire

 

The first time Caroline saw Klaus Mikaelson after the fateful night he'd saved her from Tyler's bite was decades later. She was in Argentina, laughing as she danced in the streets. The humidity had turned her curls frizzy, dusk was turning into true evening, and the little festival in the town some miles outside Buenos Aires was delightful.

Caroline had learned to avoid most of the bigger cities over the years. Touristy didn't bother her, but those older, more dangerous vampires did. She now knew how to get a feel for them, would use the nightmares of her past to gauge their strength.

So she was caught completely off guard when she was intercepted mid-turn by hot skin and a scent she sometimes still dreamed about. Mouth running dry, she shifted her gaze up to find herself looking at the hybrid she knew from her fever dreams. His curls had fared better than hers, and the scruff along his jaw only emphasized the curve of his lips.

"Hello, Caroline."

She wouldn't flinch from the blade in his eyes. Her current tango partner, however; moved away with a quick apology after one searing glance. "Klaus."

"No smile for me?" Klaus questioned lowly as his hand settled against her hip, palm slipping beneath her stuff fingers.

"You tried to kill me."

Dimples deepening on either side of his smile, Klaus cocked his head to the side even as he adjust his grip. He pulled her closer, among the milling bodies, the masses around them oblivious to the unmoving monsters. "In fairness, I merely instigated the desire for Tyler to bite you. And I'd hardly call that attempted murder, sweetheart. Tyler could have fought off my suggestion."

"Yes," she bit out at the reminder of that night. Her words were low, and with the musicians beginning to softly play another song, she'd no fear of being overheard. "How did you phrase it? _Collateral damage?_ "

"Come now, Caroline, I apologized," Klaus chided as he ran his thumb along the bone of her hip before gliding his hand up her ribs to settle along her side. "However, I didn't approach you to dredge up the finer details of our past. At least, not yet."

Her body was hyper aware of his touch, the careful caress that burned through the thin material of her dress. "Lucky me. Why _are_ you here?"

The beat had caught a tempo, and the smile that widened on Klaus face had her heart lurching staccato in her chest.

"To dance, love."

She nearly stumbled that first turn. Her feet found their footing long before her brain caught up to the fact Klaus easily compensating for her lack of footwork. Her hands clutched at the firm muscle of his upper arm and the palm casually holding hers. The open embrace wasn't as intimate as it could've been while still being _too close_.

"Relax, Caroline," Klaus murmured, voice rich with amusement. "We both know if I was going to kill you, I'd have done so already."

Caroline glared up through her lashes. "Thank you, for your reassurance."

He chuckled, fingers tightening on her back the only warning she had before he pulled her closer, the soft curve of her breasts nearly brushing the line of his chest. Her eyes went wide, but Klaus was clearly no longer interested in talking as he walked her through increasingly complicated steps.

It was dangerous, to be pressed so close to Klaus Mikaelson. Her heart thumped in her throat her monster rested just beneath her skin. Every quick inhale as they completed another unexpected series of steps, brought the scent of his skin.

It was the most fun she'd had dancing in ages.

Caroline kept her gaze on his jawline, even as her body lost its defensive tenseness, so she saw the curl of his lips. She took each thump of the music as a challenge. If she concentrated on the rhythm and not who she was dancing _with_ , she could almost pretend she was flying.

They were nearly the same height with her heels, so when they eased to a stop as the crowds cheered around them, she was still close enough to feel his breath on her cheek. His eyes were blue now, with flecks of gold, and something behind his gaze set her nerves alight. Bringing their entangled hands to his mouth, Klaus kissed the underside of her wrist, a hint of teeth against the blue of her veins.

"Let me buy you a drink."

She jolted, blinking rapidly before shaking her head, trying to untangle their hands. "I think the dancing was _quite_ enough."

"Was it?" Klaus murmured. "How so?"

She stared at him, watching the lights reflect off the yellow in his gaze. "You killed Elena."

He released her finally, and clasped his hands behind his back, dimples on full display. "Hmmm. I killed a number of your townsfolk. The Lockwoods. Several Council members. The Salvatores. Not particularly the bloodiest I've left Mystic Falls, but a nice addition to its history."

Caroline had known of those deaths. Until her mother's passing, they'd talked, occasionally. Liz Forbes might've bargained with Klaus for her daughter's life, but that was as far as she'd been willing to go. It had hurt, that rejection as she'd found herself in Richmond with six hundred dollars to her name the dawn she'd nearly died.

Years later, her mother had told her about the bracelet that had been left for her. Hinted at the terror that had reigned through Mystic Falls before the Mikaelsons had disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. Now she'd danced with the same monster on cobblestone streets beneath the stars.

"I can't imagine what we'd have to talk about."

"No? I can think of several conversational topics," Klaus said, gaze never leaving her face. "It's been sixty years, love. Has vampirism been what you'd hoped, the night you choose life?"

He looked generally interested, and it confused her. She was no longer a baby vampire, but sixty years was hardly age. Pushing a wild curl away from her face, she narrowed her eyes.

"Why?"

"Why? Why not?" Klaus replied easily, as if the darkness of his gaze wasn't swallowing her whole. "Have you pondered how different your life may have gone, Caroline, if you had remained in that dreary little town?"

"Not in years," Caroline said carefully.

An arch of brow, but she stubbornly refused to elaborate. A low rumble that might have been a laugh, as his fingers caught her stubborn curl. She froze, at the soft tug against her scalp.

"I too, rarely think of Mystic Falls. But on occasion, retrospection is required. Your previous hometown is the place of some of my fondest triumphs. My broken curse, my little hybrid army, the death of Mikael. And tangled among those delightful details is one baby vampire who clung to life so strongly, as to accept monster's gift.

"Lucky me," Her voice was taut, mouth dry at the glitter behind his gaze.

"Quite so, actually. I've seen the inconsequential deaths of more than you can imagine, Caroline. Many despair. Others beg. Few, very few, stare back unflinchingly. To find such defiance, such determination in one so young was fascinating."

"That was sixty years ago."

His smile was terrifying, with the blade along its edges. "You all but called me a monster."

"You _are_ one."

A gentle pull against that curl. "So are you."

"Is that what you hoped to find?" She replied, holding his gaze. "Your blood might have given me life, but I am not you."

His hand twisted, as he wound the pale strands of her hair around his knuckle in the moonlight. "Have you wondered, Caroline, why none of your friends tried to find you? Why I never came after you?"

She went still, shoulders tight, as his gaze left her hair and returned to her face. She would not speak of years spent jolting at odd shadows, wondering if her past would catch up. "I thought we'd already discussed the fact that you'd killed the all."

"That," he murmured, "does not answer all of my question."

"As you said," Caroline said carefully. "I was just a baby vampire."

"What you are," Klaus corrected lowly, finally releasing her hair, fingertips brushing delicately down the line of her throat instead. "Is a golden fascination. One I'm intrigued to learn more about. Enjoy your time in Argentina, sweetheart. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Just as suddenly, she was alone in the moonlight, breath catching in her throat.

_Golden fascination._

She couldn't decide if that was promise or a threat.


End file.
